Pat Riley keeps fueling the speculation over his coaching future in Miami -- he returned early this season when he nudged aside Stan Van Gundy -- by dancing around the question of whether he wants to return.

The guess is that he'll be back, whether they win a championship this season or not.

"The most important thing for me now is balance, to have a balanced life with my wife and my children and my friends and my health. If I can't get that, I won't coach,''' he said in a recent interview with South Florida reporters. "I'm trying to find a balance. Maybe I'll find a balance where I won't be so obsessive about it. For me, every year has been like a dog year, nine years in one. It's hard."

The Bulls are working on a buyout, but general manager John Paxson said he doesn't want Tim Thomas go to an East team that Chicago is chasing. The Nets, Heat and Sixers are East teams with an interest along with the Spurs out west.

Thomas, who includes the Nets on his wish list, would have to be waived by Wednesday to be playoff eligible. Since they're over the cap, the Nets only can offer a minimum contract.

"I'm going to make Tim Thomas come here," Carter said.

NBATV is reporting that the Miami Heat have dealt Gerald Fitch to Houston for Derek Anderson.

Miami used their trade exception in order to complete this deal.

Click 'Read' for more info.

According to the Houston Chroncile Derek Anderson is attracting some interest, with up to five teams considering acquiring the shooting guard.

The Rockets have tried to complete a deal to move Anderson to the Heat, Cavaliers, Lakers, Nuggets or Magic.

However, each team had other, greater priorities, making a deal with the Rockets unlikely until closer to today's 3 p.m. deadline.

"Everyone's aggressive right now to try to better their team," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "I don't think there's one team that's not aggressively looking to better their team. Some general managers will tell you that. Usually the losing ones, like us ... you guys would think we were nuts if we said, 'You know what, we really like how it's going this year. This is good stuff right here, so we're going to stand pat and feel good.'

"The other ones are going to try to con you. They're trying to get better, too. Detroit is, I'm sure, going to try to find a backup point. Either you're going to try to get better or you're trying to dump contracts so you can get better.

"Either way, you're trying to do something. But every article is the same: We don't expect anything to happen. If it doesn't, 'It's hey I told you.' If it does, it came up at the last second."

Pat Riley said he does not expect the Heat to make a trade by Thursday's 3 p.m. NBA deadline.

"I'm not inclined to do anything," he said, "because this team, to me, has enough when they're motivated. When they're motivated, they've shown so many great qualities."

Riley was asked about Ruben Patterson, who has stated a preference for a trade to the Heat.

"We've not had any discussions at all," he said of the defensive-minded Trail Blazers forward.

Trail Blazers forward Ruben Patterson not only thinks Portland should make a trade but also has a destination in mind for himself. Of Thursday's impending trading deadline, the 30-year-old defensive specialist said, "The team needs to make a deal. There are a lot of guys who are unhappy here."

The 6-foot-5 veteran then enlisted for a trip to the Heat. "They need a defender," he said. "If I went there, they would see a new Ruben Patterson. Ah man, that would be lovely. They could use me."

Antoine Walker has received mixed reviews at best from Heat fans this season, but the veteran forward has put together a steady string of games lately.

The latest one, a season-high-tying 26-point effort Wednesday in Orlando, could even open the possibility of Walker returning to the starting lineup as a small forward alongside Udonis Haslem and Shaquille O'Neal on the front line.

''I don't know,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said after the Heat's 110-100 win in Orlando. ``We were winning with James [Posey] in there, and the winning percentage is about the same, so we'll just have to see. But [Walker] does bring some more versatility; there's no doubt about it.''

Walker has started the past two games for Posey, who sat out with the flu and has started all but one game he has played in this season. But in the two games before sitting out, Posey went scoreless. Walker, meanwhile, has continued a trend of efficiency.

The most common complaint about Walker has been his shot selection, which has stayed with him his entire career. But in his past 20 games, this season, Walker, a career 41.5 percent shooter, is shooting 49.5 percent from the field.

As a career starter, Walker seems to be able to find better scoring opportunities with the starting unit. In his eight games as a starter this season, Walker is averaging 16.3 points, shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three-point range (both percentages would be better than any year in his career).

Posey is averaging a career low in points and has struggled to find consistent scoring opportunities.

While trade rumors fly all over the NBA in anticipation of the Feb. 23 trade deadline, no serious rumors concern the Miami Heat, and coach Pat Riley said he doesn't think that will change.

"There are a lot of people who will disagree with me on that," he said.

Riley said he thinks the Heat has shown enough for him to stay with the players on the roster.

"Unless it's an absolute no-brainer, and a frontline player and a starter," he said. "I think we have enough players and specialists in (forward) Shandon Anderson and (forward) Jason Kapono as a shooter, Michael Doleac as a center, Wayne Simien as a power forward.

"Our eight or nine guys we use just need to be mixed and matched and playing at a higher level."

Miami's main problem has been on defensive, where it has trouble defending the pick-and-roll and rotating effectively in help situations.

There aren't a lot of defensive-minded players available to fit into Miami's system. First and foremost, Miami likely would look for a veteran. Latrell Sprewell and Christian Laettner, who played for the Heat last season, are both out there as free agents, but there's been no indication Miami has interest in either.

If the Heat wants a veteran point guard in case Jason Williams has problems with the tendinitis in his right knee, Charlotte's Brevin Knight, whose name was tossed around a few weeks ago, could be a distant possibility. But there haven't been indications that anything serious is going on there.

An NBA official in contact with the Heat said Miami has expressed interest in acquiring a capable defender such as Portland's Ruben Patterson.

Miami lost 112-76 to the Mavericks at American Airlines Center in its worst loss of the season.

''That was painful, absolutely painful,'' Heat coach Pat Riley said. ``I coached an absolutely awful game, terrible game plan. The pick-and-roll schemes, everything.

``I'm not going to take full responsibility for it, but it was a total breakdown, an absolute breakdown.'